Xu Kun
Xun Kun has a biography in SGZ 50, incorporated into that of his daughter Lady Xu. Cutter and Crowell translated it in Empresses and Consorts, so I’m summarizing from that.
Xu Kun’s father was Xu Zhen, from the same town a the Sun family. He was close friends with Sun Jian and eventually married his younger sister. Their son was Xu Kun, making him the cousin of Sun Ce and Sun Ben.
As usual, Xu Kun held minor appointments in the local administration when he was a young man. But after Dong Zhuo seized the capital, he left office and joined the army of his uncle Sun Jian. (Sun Ben led soldiers from their home region to join Sun Jian at this time, so we can assume Xu Kun was among them.)
Xu Kun stayed with the army after his uncle’s death and eventually served under Sun Ce. He particularly distinguished himself during the earliest portion of the Jiangdong campaign. Sun Ce needed to attack Liu Yao’s general Zhang Ying at Dangli (or Danglikou), but he didn’t have enough boats to cross. Xu Kun’s mother suggested making rafts out of reeds, and Xu Kun brought the plan to Sun Ce. Using this stratagem, he was able to cross the river with his full army and crush Zhang Ying. Xu Kun also distinguished himself in the subsequent battles around Moling and Qu’a. For his efforts, Sun Ce named him as executor of Danyang, though he soon ceded this position to Wu Jing.
Jiangbiao Zhuan says that Yuan Shu sent his cousin Yuan Yin to head Danyang, but when relations between the two groups broke down, Xu Kun was sent to attack Yuan Yin. He was successful and took over the commandery. Around the same time, Wu Jing (Sun Ce’s uncle) returned after fighting for Yuan Shu in Xu. He was well-liked and popular among the army. Additionally, Sun Ce was apprehensive about Xu Kun’s success and wanted to use him on the front lines. So he had Wu Jing replace Xu Kun as the head of Danyang, while Xu Kun continued to serve on the front lines.
Xu Kun continued to distinguish himself in battle. He was particularly accomplished when retaking Lujiang from Li Shu. Later he died in battle against Huang Zu (I don’t know if it wa sin 203 or 208).
Xu Kun’s daughter originally married a man named Lu Shang, but he died young. After this she became a concubine of Sun Quan (yes, her father’s cousin.) At first she was highly favored and assigned to raise his eldest son sun Deng, but they later had a falling out and stopped seeing each other. After Sun Quan became King and Emperor, his officials wanted to make Lady Xu the empress because she raised the heir. But Sun Quan loved Bu Lianshi and never made a decision on the matter.
Xu Kun’s younger brother Xu Jiao also distinguished himself in battle but die dyoung. Their third brother Xu Zuo was also accomplished and lived a much longer life.
